BRENHAM — The Trinity Valley Community Cardinals did a lot of giving Saturday.

They gave the Cardinal faithful who made the nearly 350-mile round trip from Athens one heck of a show, and they gave the country’s top-ranked Blinn Buccaneers about all they could handle.

And they nearly gave the Bucs their first loss of the season. Very nearly.

The Cardinals, ranked No. 8 in the nation, scored 16 fourth-quarter points but saw their rally fall just short in a 40-37 loss to the Bucs at Cub Stadium. It was the first loss of the season for the Cardinals (6-1 overall, 3-1 in Southwest Junior College Football Conference).  Blinn (7-0, 4-0) gave up a season-worst 603 total yards to the Cardinals but is certain to hang on to the No. 1 spot in the NJCAA national poll for at least another week.

The game’s wild fourth quarter included a pair of TVCC touchdowns in the final 3:34 (including one set up by Kent Ganious’ block of a Blinn field goal attempt), a two-point attempt pass caught by K’Sean Wesley that appeared to be just over the goal line but was ruled just outside the end zone and two beautiful onside kicks by Brad Dunavant that were nearly recovered by the Cardinals.

The late surge wasn’t enough to bridge a gap created by a Blinn team that converted a handful of huge plays in the second half to gain the upper hand.

After Saul Martinez’s 44-yard field goal cut Blinn’s lead to 27-24 with 12:34 left in the fourth quarter, the Cardinals forced the Bucs into a third-and-20 from their own 10-yard line. Blinn quarterback Eric Mathews scrambled but completed a 50-yard pass to Kurt Walker to keep the drive alive, and the Bucs then completed a nine-yard pass on fourth-and-4 from the TVCC 34 and again moved the chains with a 31-yard completion on second-and-20. The drive ended with Mathews’ one-yard touchdown run that gave Blinn a 33-24 lead with seven minutes left.

Marion Grice’s second touchdown run pushed the Blinn lead to 40-24 with 3:45 to go, and then things got crazy.

On the Cardinals’ next play from scrimmage, Tucker Carter hit Derel Walker on a juggling 80-yard touchdown reception to trim the lead to 40-30. The Cardinals then went for two, with Carter hitting Wesley for what appeared to be a successful conversion. It appeared one referee confirmed the completion, but another official stepped in and ruled Wesley was barely out of the end zone when he caught the pass. The call left the Cardinals trailing by two scores, rather than one.

The Bucs failed to run out the clock on their subsequent drive, and on fourth-and-two from the TVCC 22, Kurt Walker came onto the field for a 40-yard field goal attempt. Ganious — returning from an injury that kept him out nearly a month —  blocked the attempt and Jermaine Longino returned the ball to the Blinn 40. Two plays later, Carter found Drew Hellriegel on a 22-yard score that trimmed the Blinn lead to 40-37 with 1:37 left.

Dunavant’s second onside kick attempt was perfectly popped high into the air, but Blinn recovered the ball to end the threat.

The Cardinals dominated the first half statistically, gaining 17 first downs and 293 total yards to just eight first downs and 187 total yards for Blinn. Grice, the conference’s leading rusher who committed to Texas A&M last week, was held to just 18 yards and no scores on 11 carries. But with his big second half, he finished with 148 yards on 26 carries.

BUCCANEERS 40, CARDINALS 37

    TVCC    Blinn

First Downs    30    21

Rushing Yards    45-233    43-266  

Passing Yards    370    259

Total Yards    603    525

Passes Att.    38    24

Passes Comp.    22    14

Interceptions    1    0

Fumbles/Lost    2/0    6/2

Penalties    11/94    10/92

Punts    3/32.6    4/42.0

SCORE BY QUARTERS

TVCC    7    7    7    16    —    37

Blinn    14    0    13    13    —    40

SCORING SUMMARY

BC – Eric Mathews 7 run (Kurt Walker kick) 12:17

TVCC – Vedial Johnson 3 run (Saul Martinez kick) 8:38

BC – Mathews 2 pass to Jacob Bennett (Walker kick) 2:38

TVCC – Tucker Carter 2 pass to Adrian Henderson (Martinez kick) 10:40

TVCC – Carter 64 pass to Drew Hellriegel (Martinez kick) 12:55

BC – Brelyn Sorrells 5 run (Walker kick) 5:16

BC – Marion Grice 50 run (run fails) 3:28

TVCC – Martinez 44 FG 12:34

BC – Mathews 1 run (kick fails) 6:56

BC – Grice 40 run (Walker kick) 3:45

TVCC – Carter 80 pass to Derel Walker (pass fails) 3:34

TVCC – Carter 22 pass to Hellriegel (Martinez kick) 1:37

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — TVCC: Vedial Johnson 23-128; Tucker Carter 10-41; Adrian Henderson  1-1; Mason Hayes 9-51; Jack Brown 2-12. BC: Eric Mathews 14-92; Marion Grice 26-148; Jacob Bennett 1-14; Jamare Mills 1-7; Brelyn Sorrells 1-5.

RECEIVING —  TVCC: Derel Walker 5-135; James Jackson 3-30; Vedial Johnson 1-19; Jack Brown 2-23; Domanick Turner 2-20; Adrian Henderson 2-10; Buddy Nunn 1-14; Drew Hellriegel 5-110; K’Sean Wesley 1-8. BC: Jacob Bennett 5-49; Marion Grice 1-14; Kyle Aubuchon 4-78; Xavier Maxwell 2-59; Sagwan Edwards 1-9; Kurt Walker 1-50.

PASSING — TVCC: Tucker Carter 22-38-370-4-1. BC: Eric Mathews 14-24-259-1-0.